Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo (2010)

 
The Shins. The Byrds. Neil Young. Band of Horses. Daniel Johnston. Mark Linkous. Johnny Marr. Tortoise. Fleet Foxes. Mercury Rev. Flaming Lips. Love. Syd Barrett. Beach Boys. Weezer. Joanna Newsom. Wilco. Built to Spill. Deerhoof.

I'm just over half way through my first listen of Avi Buffalo's deut album for Sub Pop and was reading through a number of reviews I found through metacritic and thought I'd compile a list of artists mentioned during the reviews. Avi Buffalo don't necessarily sound exactly like any of the above bands, but take various elements from each and you've got Avi Buffalo. Whatever the comparisons may be, this is a summer album and is full of sweet melodies and sunshine guitar licks and makes me wish I was in California, kicking back with a Corona. I'm still only on my first listen and whether or not it'll be a favourite of the year, it's probably too early to say, but I do know this will get some serious playtime over the coming weeks. RYM has it at 3.27, whilst the critics have been much more generous, with a score of 81 on metacritic. The obvious stand out for me is the insanely catchy 'What's In It For?', which you can watch the video for and download below, as well as 'Remember Last Time.'

Avi Buffalo - Remember Last Time

Avi Buffalo - What's In It For?

Beck's Record Club cover Skip Spence's 'Oar'

After covering 'The Velvet Underground & Nico' and 'Songs Of Leonard Cohen', Beck's Record Club's third installment is a cover album of Skip Spence's 'Oar'. If you're new to Beck's Record Club, Beck and some friends basically get together to record a chosen album in a day. In the past guests have included Devendra Banhart, MGMT, Little Joy and Wolfmother. This time round, guests included Wilco, Feist and James Gadson (who's played drums for Bill Withers and on hits like 'I Will Survive' and 'Express Yourself') and was recorded "at Sunset Sound Studios in the room where the Stones did a lot of Exile On Main Street" (Beck). You can listen to the results at Beck's Record Club.

Listen to Skip Spence's 'Oar' on Spotify